WEC – Loïc Duval: “Our rivals had better watch out”

Loïc, how would you summarize the first round of the WEC, last Sunday, at Silverstone?
There's no point hiding the fact that from an accounting point of view, it's not very good. The car not having finished the race we left empty-handed. But honestly, I don't think that's the most important thing. We had various things to validate this weekend and we stored a lot of information for the races to come. First of all, our car is fast. Pole position escaped us by only 0. And the cohesion between Tom (Kristensen. Editor’s note)Lucas (di Grassi. Editor’s note) and I take it really well. I feel positive vibes for future races.

The conditions were complicated, weren't they?
Yes, but at Silverstone, having to deal with the rain is not really a surprise. On the other hand, the intensity and frequency with which the rain stopped and started again was a real headache. Particularly on a six-hour race. We trusted our weather radar and stayed on slick tires, which made the car extremely difficult to drive. Other teams opted for a different choice.

Did the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro meet your expectations?
Changing the regulations had become inevitable. We made sure to adapt as quickly as possible. And while the car's colors are familiar to fans, what's underneath is completely different. I would also like to take my hat off to the engineers in Ingolstadt. Once again, they designed a little gem for us. We couldn't prove it on Sunday, but we will in the near future. Our rivals had better watch out.

Discover the analysis of the 6 Hours of Silverstone carried out by our special correspondent in issue 1957 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version on all platforms, and on newsstands from tomorrow.